Origins and functions of comic in feuilleton as literature phenomenon

The genesis of a feuilleton phenomenon in the periodic press, always attracting the readers’ attention, has not been thoroughly researched. The work aims to identify the feuilleton origins and clarify the nature of its expressive means and comic functions. The research materials include the records of the feuilleton discussions in the Soviet press (1922-1926), a collection of works “Feuilleton” (1927), later works on the feuilleton and historical poetics. The following factors are considered to have contributed to the rise of the feuilleton: increased potential of the printing press at the turn of the 19th century, emergence of commercial periodicals, publishers’ interest in increasing the subscribers’ number, growing opposition to the regulatory trends of classicism and acute interest of romanticists in folklore and freedom to use its expressive means in the artistic sphere. The feuilleton is conceptualized as a young form, independent of genre canons, developing the low farce and slapstick comedy expressive means and its comic potential. According to ancestral memory, the comic means as basic artistic expression suggests both mockery and pleasure function for the feuilleton audience and predetermines the double existence of the feuilleton text and difference in naming at different times and in different publications. Texts published in periodicals are traditionally viewed as feuilletons, though the same texts published elsewhere can be considered short fiction forms. The paper defines the feuilleton as belonging to periodicals but distinguished among official and serious papers by its wording and free form of a mostly comic statement, pleasing for readers.

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